HOUSTON — Behnaz Darban is now in her fourth year at the University of Houston - Clear Lake's Doctor in Psychology in Health Service Psychology Program. Being driven in passion and enthusiasm in supporting and addressing children and their families' mental health needs, Darban has been involved in voluntary community work with international women.
Darban is among a cohort of seven members who will start yearlong internships in schools, hospitals, and clinical settings on the path to becoming a pediatric psychologist this summer.
As an Iran native, she has previously worked with children and families having traumatic experiences, such as refugees and immigrants. She continued to have a practicum experience at Shriners Children's Hospital. She later concluded in her statement that working with children having gone through trauma is extremely tough yet most rewarding.
Darhan received her master's degree from the University of Kansas dan had begun a doctoral program in curriculum and teaching there. Previously, she was a teacher in her origin country.
After a thorough search, she joined UH-Clear Lake and was referred to Mary Short, Professor of Psychology and the co-director of the university's Psy.D. program. Her passion was rewarded when she managed to secure an internship in the field.
Darban will start her internship at Indiana University School of Indianapolis this July, with Riley Hospital for Children as her first rotation. She felt optimistic and confident in starting the internship program, "Generally, students in our programs get interviews at competitive sites. I got 13! Everyone was amazed with the experience we get in our program, even with the pandemic," Darban stated.